An affair to remember: Redbirds vs. Knights

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After almost two weeks of hiatus, the Redbirds finally got to play cricket again (thanks to the rains and lack of some practise) in their third match of the CICA tournament against the Knights. The Redbirds will want to remember this match and keep several parts of etched in their minds for the forthcoming matches, and at the same time they would definitely want to erase some of the memories. Even though the Redbirds lost this match, the boys proved once again that they are quite a formidable group of young players who will play out of their skins and not go down without a fight, as they came close to giving Knights a shocker.

The match was very unlike the previous two matches that the Redbirds have played so far. It was a very low scoring affair all around as the total combined runs scored by both teams didn't make it past the seventy run mark.

For the first time in this tournament, Redbirds won the toss and elected to bat. Kiran and Imran opened the innings for the Redbirds. After watchfully playing the first over, Imran took a wild sweep at a delivery that was way outside the off-stump only to edge it high up in the air to the wicket keeper. Dheeraj came in next only to find himself walking back after Rinil dove forward to pull off an amazing catch at the point region. Venkat and Kiran found gaps in the next over and kept the scoreboard ticking briefly. Venkat attempted to drive a ball that was pitched full and straight and his furniture was disturbed.

Having lost three quick wickets Kedar was sent in to restore some stability. Unfortunately nothing was working well for the Redbirds as Kedar flicked a full length ball to short leg for a lollipop of a catch. Kiran was back in the barracks in the very next over courtesy of some fine work behind the stumps by the wicketkeeper, Ranjit. Halfway through the innings the Redbirds had scored 16 runs at the loss of 5 wickets. From here on it was mostly a matter of survival as the Rebirds found themselves under immense pressure to score a few runs and not lose anymore wickets.

Knights kept a very tight line and length with a disciplined demostration of bowling performance in which they gave away only one extra in the form of a wide. Whereas for the Redbirds, wickets kept falling at regular intervals. The innings came to an end in 14th over as the Redbirds scored a measly 34, or so did it seem until they took the field to defend that score.

Kedar lead the Redbirds bowling attack from the front with a tenacious grip over his line and length. He bowled with such pedagogical authority that the Knights batsmen could barely connect with the ball and when they did, they did so only to send it in the hands of either the wicket keeper or a fielder to be caught. He ended up with his best figures in this tournament so far by picking up 3 wickets for a paltry 6 runs in 4 overs.

This was another highlight of the day - a terrific fielding performance from the Redbirds. Right from the first catch that Imran took running in from long-off to dismiss Reynold Sebastian to the tumbling catch that Venkat took at extra cover region, the Redbirds demonstrated the fire and passion to win this game. Half way through the innings Knights scorecard read 18 runs for 6 wickets, quite similar to what the Redbirds made at that stage. Dheeraj and Imran sent two more batsmen back after the break

Inspite of picking up wickets at regular intervals, the Redbirds gave away quite a few extras during their bowling. While the Knights gave away only one extra in the form of a wide, the Redbirds gave away 12 wides, a third of the target set by them. With the combination of a low score and all the extras, Knights reached the target in the 12th over with two wickets left. The bowlers dominated both the innings and it was such that the ball never crossed the boundary line throughout the match.

At the end of the day, this match was something that both the teams could take a lot from. While Knights will be proud to be able to get the Redbirds out for their lowest score so far in this tournament, the Redbirds made them sweat for every run that came of the Knights' blades. With a tight bowling attack and sharp fielding, theRedbirds kept things going their way for a while, but the extras and a low score resulted in their first loss of the tournament.

The Redbirds face-off with Rapchiks and Mustangs on Friday and Sunday respectively. The Redbirds have their work cut out infront of them and as much as they would want to forget this loss, the lessons learned will be remembered by one and all.